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Mount Dennis residents seek solutions to extensive flood damage

Mount Dennis resident Sophie Van Waeyenberghe and her husband awoke Tuesday, Aug. 7 to the frantic ringing of their doorbell; it was their neighbour alerting the couple that their house was flooding.

“He told us to move our car out of the garage. Sewage was coming up out of the drains,” Van Waeyenberghe said, describing the impact of the storm and torrential downpour that pummeled the city earlier this month. “While the water was rising, there was nothing we could do but wait.”

Sophie Van Waeyenberghe throws another bag of her belongings out after their garage and basement were flooded during the storm earlier this month. (Dan Pearce/Metroland)

Sophie Van Waeyenberghe and her husband's house on Hilldale Rd. was flooded with 10 inches of sewage water during the storm that pummelled Toronto earlier this month. (Sophie Van Waeyenberghe)

Many residents on Hilldale Rd. were cleaning out their basements after sewage came pouring out of their drainpipes. (Dan Pearce/Metroland)

When it finally subsided, 10 inches of sewage from the road’s storm drains had flooded the house on Hilldale Rd., which Van Waeyenberghe and her husband had moved into in July.

“We had just finished furnishing the basement and 48 hours later, everything was flooded,” she said.

They’ve had to throw out most of their belongings and rip out the drywall. If it was clean water, perhaps some items could have been salvaged.

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Van Waeyenberghe had no idea their new home was at risk of flooding. They found out from a neighbour only after moving in.

Sophie Van Waeyenberghe and her husband's house on Hilldale Rd. was flooded with 10 inches of sewage water during the storm that pummelled Toronto earlier this month. (Sophie Van Waeyenberghe)

She was one of about 20 Mount Dennis residents whose homes flooded, who came out to a public meeting hosted by city councillor candidate for York South-Weston Chiara Padovani. The meeting’s objective was to address residents’ immediate needs while discussing reasons why flooding is happening and what can be done to mitigate it.

The meeting took place the same day Mayor John Tory joined local Councillor Frances Nunziata to visit residents to see the damage their homes sustained in the storm.

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“I’m glad I was able to go out to talk to people, to see the devastation,” Tory said when reached for comment the next day. “The fact is, the infrastructure was put in the aftermath of Hurricane Hazel (1954) and is outdated.”

The mayor said the city is seeking federal funding for infrastructure planning and emergency funding while looking into installing technology that would provide advance notice of flooding. The technology currently exists on the Don River, he said.

Residents are furious that this problem persists. Some suffered flooding in July 2013 only to have it happen again.

More than a week after the rain, some were still without hot water, air conditioning, and had broken washer and dryers; some were showering at the gym and boiling their water.

The showers at Archbishop Romero Catholic School, on Humber Blv., have opened since the meeting took place while the York Recreation Centre is open daily.

Many residents on Hilldale Rd. were cleaning out their basements after sewage came pouring out of their drainpipes. (Dan Pearce/Metroland)

“This is the only way the city knows how this neighbourhood is impacted,” she said, noting that this is how the city prioritizes where the greatest need is.”

The city has a basement flooding prevention subsidy program, which covers up to $3,400 of the cost of such items as a backwater valve and sump pump.

An earlier study by the Toronto Region and Conservation Authority identified some possible solutions, such as building a Jane St. bridge over the Humber River, but the cost is estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.

“We should be the priority when we’re in a high-risk area,” Padovani said. “Make no mistake — other parts of the city are getting funded.”

Even though flooding has been a prevalent issue in the area for decades, fixing the problem needs political will, Padovani said. She referred to the sale of the flood plain-adjacent land at 200 Rockcliffe Ct. to a meat packing plant, lands that could have helped mitigate the problem.

“We had land that should have been seen as valuable, to protect our homes,” she said. “This is the biggest example of neglect.”

Van Waeyenberghe said many of her neighbours are worse off. She wasn’t even upset. Not until after the meeting, when she learned of the lack of action on flooding.

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